


The Passage of Time

by lady_mab



Category: Lockwood & Co. - Jonathan Stroud
Genre: Drabble, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-05
Updated: 2014-02-05
Packaged: 2018-01-11 06:34:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,102
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1169828
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lady_mab/pseuds/lady_mab
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I waited for him to try again, to dissuade me from my course of thought. But nothing came. He let his chin drop against his chest and he closed his eyes. He suddenly looked very tired. </p>
<p>It was strange to think that someone so young could look so exhausted.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Passage of Time

**Author's Note:**

> Let's pretend that, almost a year after the events at Combe Carey, something like this happened. And that it would take them that long to not figure out what the glasses did.

He called me into his office late one Friday evening. Well, calling it his office was a bit of a stretch, because it was everyone’s, and my chair was in there right along side his and George’s. I dropped down at my desk, turning my chair to face him, and arched an eyebrow in question.

“Lucy, I want to talk about the future of Lockwood & Co.”

“I’m surprised we still have one.”

His lips curl into a smirk at this, and he accepts the jab in stride. “Yes, there have been several moments when it seemed like the contrary, hasn’t there?”

“More often than not.”

“Oh, ouch, I thought you enjoyed the adventure.”

“Yes, when I’m still alive to enjoy it.”

This, too, he accepted. But that’s just him. That’s just how he was. “I am more concerned as to the continued nature of this enterprise.”

I glance around the room, at the three desks that have always been here, arranged the only way this room could ever possibly be arranged, and I open my mouth to speak.

Lockwood holds up a hand to stall my voice, but I wouldn’t have been able to get words out even if he didn’t. I couldn’t think of what to say. “As you know, I turn eighteen this fall.”

I didn’t know. I actually didn’t know when my fellow agents’ birthdays were. “Oh. And George?”

“A handful of weeks before yours. You’ll be turning sixteen around the same time.” He steepled his hands together and pressed the tips of his fingers against his lips. “That doesn’t give any of us much longer -- myself especially--”

A laugh managed to drip from my mouth before I can stop it. “Your Talent is as strong as ever. Don’t talk like you’re becoming an old man already.”

“We need to be prepared for the inevitable, Lucy. I have a year left at most. Then I will become no better than one of those advisors.”

I shifted in my seat, unsure if I wanted to rise or just nervously twitch. “It’s always been three, hasn’t it? Even before I came along.”

His mouth was set in a thin line, but he didn’t look at me. “Yes. I only insist on hiring the best of the best.”

“That’s ridiculous, Lockwood. The best of the best go to Fittes. I was rejected by them. George left. I don’t care how much popularity we have gained, or how many new unsolicited applicants we’ve received: We’re still a second-rate group compared to the organizations.”

His eyebrows shot up, and I couldn’t tell if the surprise was genuine or mocking. “Lucy, you two are the best. We have one of the largest solved cases in London to our name. We could become a corporation if we wanted to.”

“But that’s not the point of us, is it?”

“No, of course not.”

“Then what are you trying to say?”

He leaned forward, regarding me with a determination in his dark eyes. “I want you to take over for a few cases.”

“What--?!”

“We’ll look into hiring a new member. They can start off with George doing research, then as my Sight gets worse, will join you in the field--”

“This is ridiculous--”

“Lucy--”

“You must be pulling my leg, Lockwood. Is George in on this?” I twist around, trying to find our stout companion in the room. There weren’t many places a boy of his girth could hide, but I tried.

“You know I’m always serious when it comes to the future of my company.”

“Yes, but to go to that extent?”

“What other option do I have, Lucy?!” His eyes flashed, angry, but his voice remained at the same even level. That was the thing about Lockwood. He never raised his voice at us in anger. And that just made it worse. “Disband us? Sell us out to a larger company like Fittes?”

“No--”

“Then _what_ do you suggest?”

Again, my mouth opened, and again, no words came out. I was left, hanging half off the edge of my chair, trying to make him understand with my mere feelings alone what my answer was.

“You’re a brilliant girl, Luce,” he said, and my stomach twists and sinks in one uncomfortable motion as I watch the corners of his mouth form into that brilliant, charming smile. The one that gets everyone to do what he wants. “I’m sure it will be fine--”

“The glasses--” I choked, feeling more like I just fought off a bout of Ghost Lock than my own nerves.

The smile faltered. It wasn’t as potent half-formed. “Beg pardon?”

“The glasses George took from Fairfax.” I didn’t want to tell him that I’ve been running my own tests on them while George had been away doing research or whatever it is George did. I didn’t want to tell him that I had been taking out the weaker artifacts from our trophy room and seeing for myself what the strange lenses did.

I remembered the way Fairfax scrambled for them in his last moments, how he turned and reacted as Annie drew closer.

Lockwood was caught between a disapproving frown and a nod of delight. He settled with tilting his head back, stopping at the apex of the nod, and regarding me through slightly narrowed eyes. “What about the glasses?”

“I think they were designed to help adults see Visitors.” Of course, I couldn’t be one hundred percent certain when I myself could see without the glasses. Only they made my Sight stronger. What little forms our trophies took, I could see far clearer with the glasses than without them. “You could use them--”

“Lucy--”

“Lockwood, you would have started an application process by now if you really wanted to hire people. You wouldn’t have been so fixated on this idea of a trio, or you would have started earlier. This can’t be your wish for the company’s future.”

He winced, and that was answer enough.

I waited for him to try again, to dissuade me from my course of thought. But nothing came. He let his chin drop against his chest and he closed his eyes. He suddenly looked very tired.

It was strange to think that someone so young could look so exhausted.

We were still teenagers. We weren’t even twenty. And yet, in a few years, the profession that we worked so hard for will be out of our grasp. I would not be able to hear anything. We wouldn’t be able to see.

All we would feel would be the sinking malaise, in our hearts, knowing that we were done.


End file.
